I rode my bike up there last fall but was getting a little tired and cold by the time I got up to needles eye. I was going to walk up to it but then it looked like it was too far. That would be cool to connect it over to WP, as long as the mud bogs don't get worse there next to Yankee Doodle Lake.

bh4rnnr

10-03-2005, 10:26 PM

I read it in the Colorado Association of 4wd club letter/newspaper.

Dang, left it at my parents house. Wonder if Red Chili has anything on this :confused:

I always loved the west side of the pass and the hiking and the trestles you get to walk across. :) Let me know when you find the info or they post on the website, I would love to know when it will happen!

Timm

Red_Chili

10-10-2005, 08:34 AM

I rode my bike up there last fall but was getting a little tired and cold by the time I got up to needles eye. I was going to walk up to it but then it looked like it was too far. That would be cool to connect it over to WP, as long as the mud bogs don't get worse there next to Yankee Doodle Lake.
I rode my motorcycle through it the DAY before it collapsed on the Denver firefighter and was closed. eeek! As far as it reopening, I heard that too but have nothing substantive on it. So Red Chili has no clue.

The bad news would be, that makes reopening the Boulder Wagon Road less likely. Too bad. But the return of a connecting route, coupled with Jenny Creek Road, and the new BLM 4x4 road by Winter Park, makes a dandy day trip.

Bobzooki

10-10-2005, 09:58 AM

I wonder if they can actually pull that off, without just blasting the Needle's Eye open as a "cut" instead of a tunnel? It's really not much rock.

It would definitely make weekend runs to Winter Park, for Cajun Food at Fontenot's a very popular activity at Casa Bobzooki!

timmbuck2

10-10-2005, 10:30 AM

I always wondered why it was a tunnel instead of just continuing as a shelf road. Maybe the angle was too sharp for a railway??

Uncle Ben

10-10-2005, 10:55 AM

While I appreciate the history and cool factor of Needles Eye as a tunnel I really don't understand why they haven't just blown the top off already? The trail would be a breeze to keep open if the unstable tunnel would just become a cut like most other shelf trails already have! :rolleyes:

Bobzooki

10-10-2005, 11:06 AM

Thinking of it, it's what, only about 50 feet long? Maybe less?
They should be able to "open it up" in a single blast...

subzali

10-10-2005, 05:33 PM

Oh yeah, and "bike" being my mountain bike BTW :D I think if they tried to blow the top they'd blow the side out of the hill too, that seemed kinda thin as well. But even if they could do that safely that would be so much better than having it closed!

Red_Chili

10-11-2005, 08:52 AM

Being a railroad nut in general and a fan of the Moffat Road Hill Route in particular I would have to strongly disagree with you fellers. The tunnel is an historical artifact. I would grieve deeply if it were gone. I have photographs of 200 ton (!!!) standard gauge articulated locomotives angling through that tunnel and clinging to the side of the cliff just past the turn of the century, an AWESOME sight. David Moffat, out of capital and getting poor fast (from being one of the richest Coloradans in his time), had to locate his railroad over the top in order to get to the ranches and coal fields west, and produce revenue. Incredible determination. We could use some o' dat.

The loss of the tunnel is one of the reasons some folks have opposed reopening it, because to avoid danger and lawsuits while remaining cheap, 'daylighting' it was the preferred solution. I would oppose it under those conditions too. But from what I hear, daylighting the tunnel is not what is being planned now! Geeee, both sides win, who'd a-thunk it?

By the way, if you've never visited the trestles just west of Needle's Eye, they are a treat. They hang on a talus slide area known as The Devil's Slide- with good reason. It would have been terrifying to ride a standard gauge railroad over those trestles.

Just west of those is a loop, bridge and tunnel known as Riflesight Notch, where one of those 200 ton steam locomotives learned to fly at about 60 mph they figure. Number 210, a 2-6-6-0 American Locomotive Works Mallet, lost a side rod, took out its brake compressor, and became airborne, flying over a train below it before hitting the forest floor and exploding. There are still pieces of it in the woods, though most ended up in folks' living rooms.

The engineer, fireman and brakeman jumped out at 10 mph when the siderod broke loose. They did the calculations fairly rapidly and chose a different mode of transportation.

Magoo

10-16-2005, 04:23 AM

Being a railroad nut in general and a fan of the Moffat Road Hill Route in particular I would have to strongly disagree with you fellers. The tunnel is an historical artifact. I would grieve deeply if it were gone. I have photographs of 200 ton (!!!) standard gauge articulated locomotives angling through that tunnel and clinging to the side of the cliff just past the turn of the century, an AWESOME sight. David Moffat, out of capital and getting poor fast (from being one of the richest Coloradans in his time), had to locate his railroad over the top in order to get to the ranches and coal fields west, and produce revenue. Incredible determination. We could use some o' dat.

The loss of the tunnel is one of the reasons some folks have opposed reopening it, because to avoid danger and lawsuits while remaining cheap, 'daylighting' it was the preferred solution. I would oppose it under those conditions too. But from what I hear, daylighting the tunnel is not what is being planned now! Geeee, both sides win, who'd a-thunk it?

By the way, if you've never visited the trestles just west of Needle's Eye, they are a treat. They hang on a talus slide area known as The Devil's Slide- with good reason. It would have been terrifying to ride a standard gauge railroad over those trestles.

Just west of those is a loop, bridge and tunnel known as Riflesight Notch, where one of those 200 ton steam locomotives learned to fly at about 60 mph they figure. Number 210, a 2-6-6-0 American Locomotive Works Mallet, lost a side rod, took out its brake compressor, and became airborne, flying over a train below it before hitting the forest floor and exploding. There are still pieces of it in the woods, though most ended up in folks' living rooms.

The engineer, fireman and brakeman jumped out at 10 mph when the siderod broke loose. They did the calculations fairly rapidly and chose a different mode of transportation.
DUDE IM WITH HIM
not much left to colorado that hasnt been cali mutha fawkin ized!
lets keep it there the way it is.
shawn

nuclearlemon

10-16-2005, 08:32 AM

i also think it should be kept as a tunnel...the last time it was maintained was in the 70's, so modern technology should've given them a way to reinforce it and keep it as a tunnel.